Questions about adding new flock members

[colincrompton]

okay, so we currently have 5 hens and one rooster. This spring we're probably going to get rid of the roo (speaking of if anyone in california wants a healthy handsome barred rock roo contact me. We can't add too many flock members, because we can't have that many chickens. So would it be okay if we bought two chicks raised them to 8 weeks old and then intergrated them into the flock? And also where should we keep them those first 8 weeks, completely separate from the hens? separated by a fence? Thats all!

 

[chfite]

I would raise them until they are fully feathered, with a common fence. They will used to each other, so the melding should go better. There will still be the process of establishing a new pecking order, once the new chickens are introduced, but they all do that.

If they have a small access door back through the common fence, they could retreat during the first days of introduction, if needed. The larger birds couldn't fit through.

Chris

 

[Den in Penn]

Yes you can add two chickens to your flock. Eight weeks might be a little young to integrate completely, but they can free range together at that age if they have space to run away. Where you brood and keep them till the real integration depends on what spaces you have.